As the Revolutionary War drew to its end the little building knew a brief notoriety. Before the threat of Cornwallis, Governor Jefferson and the Legislature refugeed, May 24, 1781, to re-convene in Charlottesville. The Legislature met in the Court House, the overflow occupying the Swan Tavern across the street. Cornwallis dispatched in pursuit his “hunting leopard,” Col. Banastre Tarleton, with a troup of 180 cavalry and 70 mounted infantry. These reached the village on the morning of June 4th, to find that a warning had preceded them. The members had left town for Staunton: they were pursued and seven captured. The Jeffersons—the family by carriage, Mr. Jefferson on horseback—refugeed to Enniscorthy, the Coles plantation in Southern Albemarle. The warning was brought by John Jouett, captain of militia, and a native of Charlottesville, his father being the owner of Swan Tavern. Chancing to be in Cuckoo Tavern in Louisa County as the legion swept by on the main road, he suspected their destination and rode swiftly by a shorter route, covering the forty-odd miles in time to arrive several hours before the enemy. This was the famous “Jack Jouett’s Ride,” which in dash, and political importance, surpassed that of New England’s Paul Revere. In Charlottesville the British troops destroyed military stores amounting to 1000 new muskets, 400 barrels of powder, several hogsheads of tobacco, and a quantity of soldiers’ clothing. A more serious loss was the burning on the court house green of the County records, which covered the foundation of the County. As the uniform of the legion was white, faced with green, and that of the infantry red, the village must have presented a dramatic appearance during these hours. Upon the 5th, Tarleton with his prisoners, withdrew towards Tidewater, his movements being hastened by rains which flooded the streams, and by the gathering of local militia. Jouett’s gallant action received State recognition. A resolution of the General Assembly, December 14, 1786, reads: Colonel Meriwether directed, “to procure an elegant sword for Capt. John Jouett on the best terms he can for the Contingent Warrents.” PRESENT COURT HOUSE BUILDING The main portion of the present court house was built by order of court, 1803. A committee of three produced the plan. (Mr. Jefferson was not one of these, but is said to have approved the design.) We do not know the style of the original portico; the present entrance and T-front are post-Civil War. The grounds held the usual whipping post, stocks, and pillory, and as late as 1857 the whipping post was restored. The court house long served as the town’s public building, and the denominations used it in rotation. Writing about this in 1822, Mr. Jefferson says: